Apparatus and methods for home agent resiliency for mobile IPv4
AssigneeTelefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (publ)
InventorsMahmood Hossain, Suresh Bhogavilli, Chirayu Shah, Kevin Purser
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Abstract
Providing resiliency for mobile terminal data sessions, wherein the data sessions rely on Internet Protocol Version 4 and wherein at least one Home Agent node maintains a mobility bindings database for all registered mobile terminals while they are away from a home network. A first aspect of the invention provides physical Home Agent redundancy, perceived by each mobile node as Home Agent IP address redundancy, and a second aspect provides session resiliency. While the second aspect of the invention provides for session resiliency, it uses a mechanism of the former for master failure detection and Home Agent IP address take-over by a backup Home Agent.
Claims20
A method for providing resiliency for mobile terminal data sessions, wherein said data sessions rely on Internet Protocol Version 4 and wherein at least one Home Agent node maintains a mobility bindings database for all registered mobile terminals while they are away from a home network, said method comprising the steps of:
- establishing, using Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) according to IETF RFC3768, a VRRP group comprising a master Home Agent (m-HA) and at least one backup Home Agent (b-HA), wherein said master Home Agent (m-HA) automatically assumes the role of a Virtual Home Agent (v-HA) Function (VHAF), and wherein VRRP packets transmitted between said master Home Agent and said at least one backup Home Agent include an advertisement interval field having a sub-second value;
- maintaining session resiliency of said mobile terminal data sessions in the event of a failure of said master Home Agent by:
- sending, from a mobile terminal to said master Home Agent (m-HA), a mobile IP Registration Request (RRQ);
- if said Registration Request is validated and authenticated said by said master Home Agent, sending a Registration Reply (RRP) message to said mobile terminal and sending a Proxy Registration Request (PRRQ) message to said at least one backup Home Agent (b-HA) using a dedicated multicast address for all Home Agents (all-HA);
- sending, from said at least one backup Home Agent to said master Home Agent, a Proxy Registration Reply (PRRP) message acknowledging said proxy registration;
- detecting by said at least one backup Home Agent, via said VRRP packets, the failure of said master Home Agent;
- assuming, by one of said at least one backup Home Agent, the role of master Home Agent.
A master Home Agent node for providing resiliency for mobile terminal data sessions, wherein said data sessions rely on Internet Protocol Version 4 and wherein said master Home Agent node and at least one backup Home Agent node maintain a mobility bindings database for all registered mobile terminals, said master Home Agent comprising:
- means for establishing, using Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) according to IETF RFC3768, a VRRP group comprising-said master Home Agent (m-HA) and at least one backup Home Agent (b-HA), wherein said master Home Agent automatically assumes the role of a Virtual Home Agent (v-HA) Function (VHAF), and wherein VRRP packets transmitted between said master Home Agent and said at least one backup Home Agent include an advertisement interval field having a sub-second-value;
- means for maintaining session resiliency of said mobile terminal data sessions in the event of a failure of said master Home Agent, said means for maintaining resiliency comprising:
- means for receiving, from a mobile terminal, a mobile IP Registration Request (RRQ);
- means for validating and authenticating said Registration Request;
- means for sending a Registration Reply (RRP) message to said mobile terminal and sending a Proxy Registration Request (PRRQ) message to said at least one backup Home Agent (b-HA);
- means for receiving, from said at least one backup Home Agent, a Proxy Registration Reply (PRRP) message acknowledging said proxy registration;
- means for periodically sending said VRRP packets to said at least one backup Home Agent, whereby said at least one backup Home Agent can detect the failure of said master Home Agent upon the cessation of receipt of said VRRP packets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.